Fraser’s asleep up in the guestroom, but Ray wants a beer, ice cream or maybe mashed potatoes. The inherent weirdness of staying with Stella, Vecchio and their girls for two weeks doesn’t prevent him from wandering around their house at one in the morning and rifling through their fridge.
Ray grins when he finds a quart of Rocky Road in the freezer. Stella still loves him a little bit, because she never liked marshmallows and almonds and this is a brand new container, so Ray dumps half of it into one of their fancy bowls before settling down at the kitchen table.
He’s communing with his dessert, but that doesn’t stop him from hearing the door open behind him and in a second he’s on his feet reaching for a holster he hasn’t warn in almost twenty years. The chair clattering almost covers up the yelp Amanda makes, and the boy behind her looks a little terrified.
Who wouldn’t be afraid of a weird old man jumping them in the kitchen? And yeah, now he remembers that she wasn’t at dinner, probably because she was out with this schmoe.
“What are you doing up?” she demands.
“I was hungry. Aren’t you late for your curfew?” Not that Ray was waiting for everyone else to go to sleep before he got up for exactly this reason or anything.
“Only a little.” God, he does not want to be doing this. He thinks there’s a very good reason that he’s not a father. “What do you care, you’re not my dad.”
Ray lets out a huff of air that could almost be called a laugh. “Believe me, I know. Maybe I should just go get Vecchio and let him deal with this.”
That actually puts a nervous look on her face, instead of that pissy superior look Stella didn’t have perfected until she was almost thirty but Amanda wears all the time. Her baby sister isn’t too bad at it, either. Ray’s glad they live five thousand miles away, because he doesn’t particularly like seeing the look that haunted the end of his marriage on girls that can barely drive.
“We just lost track of time, and once I realized I was late we drove straight back.”
“Uh huh.” Ray jabs a finger at her. “I may look like an old man to you, kid, but I was a teenager once. Don’t think I don’t know what you were doing.”
Her nose wrinkles up at that. She’s apparently made the connection between Ray and her mom as teenagers. He hopes that keeps her hormones in check next time.
comment fic! you owe me a pony!
Ray grins when he finds a quart of Rocky Road in the freezer. Stella still loves him a little bit, because she never liked marshmallows and almonds and this is a brand new container, so Ray dumps half of it into one of their fancy bowls before settling down at the kitchen table.
He’s communing with his dessert, but that doesn’t stop him from hearing the door open behind him and in a second he’s on his feet reaching for a holster he hasn’t warn in almost twenty years. The chair clattering almost covers up the yelp Amanda makes, and the boy behind her looks a little terrified.
Who wouldn’t be afraid of a weird old man jumping them in the kitchen? And yeah, now he remembers that she wasn’t at dinner, probably because she was out with this schmoe.
“What are you doing up?” she demands.
“I was hungry. Aren’t you late for your curfew?” Not that Ray was waiting for everyone else to go to sleep before he got up for exactly this reason or anything.
“Only a little.” God, he does not want to be doing this. He thinks there’s a very good reason that he’s not a father. “What do you care, you’re not my dad.”
Ray lets out a huff of air that could almost be called a laugh. “Believe me, I know. Maybe I should just go get Vecchio and let him deal with this.”
That actually puts a nervous look on her face, instead of that pissy superior look Stella didn’t have perfected until she was almost thirty but Amanda wears all the time. Her baby sister isn’t too bad at it, either. Ray’s glad they live five thousand miles away, because he doesn’t particularly like seeing the look that haunted the end of his marriage on girls that can barely drive.
“We just lost track of time, and once I realized I was late we drove straight back.”
“Uh huh.” Ray jabs a finger at her. “I may look like an old man to you, kid, but I was a teenager once. Don’t think I don’t know what you were doing.”
Her nose wrinkles up at that. She’s apparently made the connection between Ray and her mom as teenagers. He hopes that keeps her hormones in check next time.